BETTY GOES ON....

BETTY

Here is Betty at 18 years young with 149,000 miles on the clock. She has just flown through the NCT (MOT) without any bother whatsoever, in fact she has never failed her road worthiness test in all the years we’ve had her.

Our Betty, named after an old aunt of mine who was a nonagenarian, is a 1998 Toyota Starlet 1330 cc and as lively now as she has always been.

Her driver now is Lady H who passed her driving test last year which is why we have a N plates front and back of the car. They will remain there for two years and indicate that the vehicle is being driven by a newly qualified driver.

Other road users and drivers of more modern cars are often surprised by her acceleration when we over take them, not that we make a habit of driving fast but the power is there when needed. We often have people stopping at the house, especially young men, wanting to know if we will sell her. Our answer is always “No” as Betty is far too useful to us.

When the back seats are folded down she becomes a mobile kennel for Toby our dog who often travels with us. He is carefully attached and restrained by the rear safety belts to prevent any injury to him, or to us, during an emergency stop.  He considers himself to be a rear seat guard dog barking at the cars behind when they get too close to us.

On sunny but windy days Betty becomes a reading room for Lady H who is always accompanied by her faithful Toby. 

Armed with a mug of tea and a book she has been known to spend an afternoon immersed in a good story surrounded by sunshine and birdsong.

Well now that Betty has clean bill of health we can look forward to sunny days and more adventures for me to tell you about.

Rainbow Cottage

For umpteen years this old cottage has been white all over. The place has been crying out for redecoration for awhile now;so this time we put our thinking heads on and have decided to added a bit of colour to the old walls: using Sheffield Green on the window cills and wall tops, Harvest Gold on the walls and White in the window recesses.

So here am I at the end of the first day taking my ease with my pipe in the evening sunshine feeling at peace with the world knowing that the paint scheme is working well.

We were delighted to find that Mrs H had unknowingly captured a band of rainbow beams

falling over the roof (top right of photo) for our place is known as Rainbow Cottage.

I just hope that the present dry sunny weather lasts out enabling us to complete our task.

A Sunday Market

Several times a year, on warm, sunny Sundays, we visit the Clara Sunday Market & Car Boot Sale.

It’s a family run market which was set up in 1993 to sell new and second hand goods and takes place every week. Situated on the Moate Rd outside Clara, Co. Offaly, the market sits on on a 6 acre site and is only 

15 minutes drive from Tullamore.

We go there when we have something specific to buy but also enjoy a thorough browse amongst the stalls. 

This time we went to buy a garden hoe and I was lucky, for lying in amongst dozens of others was an old forged hoe with a brand new handle. To me this was ideal and far better than a modern pressed steel one which bends as soon as you give them any work. I always feel recycling tools, rather than buying new, is a good idea and better still I purchased it for small money.

You never know who you are going to meet at the market or what you are going to find there, depending on which travelling trader attends. In the past I have met traders from all over Europe selling their wares and friends who were also looking for a bargain. There is always the chance to chat and have a bit of craic, especially over a cup of tea from the small café.

We visit Clara Market with the goods we wish to buy in mind and have usually found what we are looking for, with a few extra bits and pieces we have discovered along the way thrown in. 

My finds so far have included a brand new heavy leather waistcoat, a 1950’s teapot, socks, boots, 

cushion covers, curtains, pottery bowls and other miscellaneous items - it really is a treasure trove.

Traders from all over the place come here.

White vans predominate the scene.

Tool for every job and use. 

I wonder what she is thinking ?

Making a sale involves a lot of chat

One lonely rooster!

Fresh fruit anyone ?

Local produce on old oil drums

An Old Boy's Toy

I have always wanted one of these handy garden saws ever since I saw a friend of mine, Christopher, using one years ago. He had purchased his when abroad (I can’t remember where) all I know is that his was not cheap. 

So yesterday while shopping in Lidl I spotted the old boys toy of my dreams, all for a snip - €2.99 and it looks exactly like the one C had.

The packet says that the saw cuts wood, bone and plastic tubing. I am not a surgeon or a big meat eater and my plumbing is complete so as long as it 

cuts through the prunings that are drying on the patio and dead rose stems

I shall be a happy old boy !

Inconsiderate People

Con Coughlan

A 89-year-old man who tripped and fell in Cork city centre at lunchtime was ignored by pedestrians, shoppers and motorists.

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Con Coughlan (89) was eventually able to pick himself up off the road on Washington Street, and limp over to a wall.

Bruised, cut and shaken, Con managed to make his own way home.

Con appealed for people to be more considerate of the elderly, the disabled and the vulnerable.

"I was very surprised that no-one came over to help."

Con's family were so shocked that they contacted local radio station RedFM.

His granddaughter Orla said she was appalled and urged people to be more considerate. "I just wanted to make everyone aware that Cork people have gone to the extreme of being too wrapped up in their own lives to help others."

Widower Con (inset) regularly walks into the city for lunch. But he misjudged the height of a kerb and fell.

"It was 3pm on a Friday and not one car stopped, not one person passing on the path stopped to ask was granddad OK," Orla added.

"My granddad is so proud to be a Corkman. We cannot believe that someone wouldn't help an elderly person up off the ground after falling. It is really upsetting."

© Irish Independent

I had a similar experience in Bath many years ago when I fell off my motorcycle on a bend in a M.O.D. site at going home time. Cars slowed down reversed and drove out around me and none stopped.

People are generally inconsiderate and very, very few ever want to get involved.

The Tale of a Shirt

Mrs H told me that she was going to have a clear out of her clothes and other accessories to create more space on our shared rail. I was delighted to hear this as it would now be easier for me to retrieve the few clothes that were mine. 
I was looking forward to a quiet afternoon sitting on my own with a book. 
When I heard her good self sing out 
'What shirts are you going to dispose of ?' 
to which I retorted 
'You can sling the black ones if you like, for there's no profit in me wearing them anymore'

When her good-self came over from the UK to check both me and this country out, I took her on a mini tour of Ireland for a few days and just like now the weather was up, meaning sunny and warm. 
After a few days I had changed into wearing a pair of black trousers and a shirt to match. We stopped at a rural garage to fill the fuel tank before tackling the next stage of our journey. I gave the attendant a fifty pound note he strolled off to his shed and was gone a considerable time; such that I sneakily peered through his window to see what was causing the delay and saw him delving into drawers and putting together coins and notes.
When eventually he returned he took my hand turned it upwards and pressed the change into my palm and pushed my fingers over the whole amount and said 
'Have a nice day, Father' I felt a bit embarrassed at his innocence, gave him my thanks and without checking I pushed the change deep into my pocket.

Later on that day we were at the southern end of the Dingle peninsula, having found a B&B with a pub nearby.As we had ceased travelling for the day we thought that we deserved a drink.
Whilst sitting at the counter and waiting to be served I idly counted what money was in my pocket it came to twenty-five pounds more than what it should have been. 
Something very similar happened to us in Co. Clare when we stopped for lunch in a hotel and when I went pay the bill was halved, again I was wearing a black shirt & trousers.

However, since the fall in popularity of the church of Rome due to the despicable clerical abuse of children etc, one hardly ever sees a priest wearing any form of religious garb in the street and I have certainly stopped wearing black shirts.
My un-priestly days are over!

Those wise owls among you will have realised that my easy release of the black shirts did not stop there. For my presence was summoned and about another ten or more different coloured shirts came off the rail and went into the charity shop bag. I did though manage to rescue one that had never been worn.Why it was put into the disposable heap though - I shall never know. I might even wear it tomorrow when we go out for lunch
if I can remember which one it was :))

A Saturday Jaunt

On Saturday we took ourselves off for a jaunt down the country to visit friends who live on the Ring peninsula in Co. Waterford. On the map above there is a red line drawn as the crow flies to indicate the start and stop, it does not show the twisty route we took. Or the confusion that faced us in one large town where we saw a road sign pointing us in the wrong direction which put several extra miles on our journey and left the driver exasperated!

Ring Peninsula - looking in an easterly direction

Dungarvan Harbour - & the sandbank

Dungarvan Harbour - the mussel farm 

and the Monavullagh Mountains

Looking north west from Ring 

to the Knockmealdown Mountains

Mrs H the Happy Navigator

Before making the journey I checked the weather forecast which said 'heavy rain moving southerly will effect all regions and may bring localised flooding'. When we left home it was slightly overcast and after twenty miles the sun came out and I turned off the heater. At our friends home we all sat in the garden enjoying the glorious sunshine eating and drinking with coffee for the driver!

The return journey was virtually as pleasant as the trip down though we did run into some fine rain for awhile but nothing like what was forecast and most certainly we never saw any puddles or signs of heavy rain. Which just proves that you cannot believe all that you read. Our total mileage for the round trip was 233 miles through stunning scenery and sunshine.